2024 Pittwater state by-election

2024 Pittwater state by-election
Electoral district of Pittwater in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Registered	57,196
Turnout	85.15% ( 5.01 pp)
MP before election; Rory Amon; Liberal	Elected MP ; Jacqui Scruby; Independent

A by-election for the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Pittwater was held on 19 October 2024, following the resignation of Liberal MP Rory Amon.^[1]

Amon resigned from parliament on 30 August 2024 after he was charged with child sex offences.^[2] Several hours prior to resigning from parliament, Amon also resigned as a member of the Liberal Party.^[3]

Independent Jacqui Scruby was elected.

Key dates

Issue of writ – 27 September 2024
Close of roll – 27 September 2024
Close of nominations – 3 October 2024
Declaration of nominations – 4 October 2024
Commencement of early voting – 12 October 2024
Applications for postal voting close – 14 October 2024
Polling day – 19 October 2024
Last day for return of the writ – 8 November 2024^[1]

Previous results

2023 New South Wales state election: Pittwater^[4]^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rory Amon	22,137	44.71	−12.64
	Independent	Jacqui Scruby	17,754	35.86	+35.86
	Labor	Jeffrey Quinn	5,039	10.18	−2.38
	Greens	Hilary Green	3,386	6.84	−8.47
	Sustainable Australia	Craig Law	1,195	2.41	−1.32
Total formal votes			49,511	97.75	+0.42
Informal votes			1,139	2.25	−0.42
Turnout			50,650	90.16	+0.27
Notional two-party-preferred count
	Liberal	Rory Amon	26,796	63.25	−9.11
	Labor	Jeffrey Quinn	15,567	36.75	+9.11
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Liberal	Rory Amon	23,365	50.66	−20.18
	Independent	Jacqui Scruby	22,759	49.34	+49.34
	Liberal hold

Candidates

	Candidate	Background
Libertarian	Doug Rennie^[7]
Independent	Jacqui Scruby	Sustainability consultant and former environmental lawyer, former adviser for federal independent MPs Sophie Scamps and Zali Steggall.^[7]^[8]
Liberal	Georgia Ryburn	Former deputy mayor of Northern Beaches Council until 2024 and a senior manager at a professional services firm.^[7]

Liberal pre-selection

On 11 September 2024 Manly ward councillor Georgia Ryburn defeated fellow councillors Michael Gencher from Pittwater ward and Bianca Crvelin from Narrabeen ward along with lawyer Claire Longley to win Liberal Party preselection.^[9] Ryburn previously served as the deputy mayor of Northern Beaches Council, but was unable to contest the local government elections on 14 September after the Liberal Party missed the candidate nomination deadline.^[10]

Labor absence

The governing Labor Party did not contest the by-election with Premier Chris Minns stating "a swing against us would be a massive distraction".^[11]

Results

2024 Pittwater state by-election^[12]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jacqui Scruby	25,705	54.17	+18.31
	Liberal	Georgia Ryburn	19,852	41.84	−2.87
	Libertarian	Doug Rennie	1,893	3.99	+3.99
Total formal votes			47,450	97.43	−0.32
Informal votes			1,250	2.57	+0.32
Turnout			48,700	85.15	−5.01
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Jacqui Scruby	26,050	55.94	+6.60
	Liberal	Georgia Ryburn	20,519	44.06	−6.60
	Independent gain from Liberal		Swing	−6.60

References

^ ^a ^b "2024 Pittwater State by-election". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
^ McSweeney, Jessica; Smith, Alexandra; Gorrey, Megan; Sibthorpe, Clare (30 August 2024). "NSW MP charged with child sex offences, quits parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
^ Lewis, Alexander (30 August 2024). "Liberal MP for Pittwater Rory Amon charged with child sex offences". ABC News. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024. The ABC understands Mr Amon has quit parliament and the Liberal Party following the charges.
^ LA First Preference: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
^ LA Two Candidate Preferred: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
^ Two Candidate Preferred (TCP) Analytical Tool: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Green, Antony. "Pittwater By-election - NSW Election 2024". ABC News. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.
^ Gorrey, Megan (5 September 2024). "'I'm still an underdog': The teal candidate taking on the Liberals in Pittwater". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024. Teal candidate Jacqui Scruby hopes widespread frustration at the NSW Liberals' turmoil might propel her into state parliament when she takes her second tilt at the seat of Pittwater, setting up a rematch between the party and independents in the knife-edge northern beaches electorate.
^ Dole, Nick; Al–Khouri, Chantelle (12 September 2024). "NSW Liberals select Georgia Ryburn to run in Pittwater seat for upcoming state by-election". ABC News. Sydney. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
^ "Libs off Council for four years". Northern Beaches Advocate. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
^ Dowling, James (26 September 2024). "NSW Labor will not contest blue ribbon by-elections despite opposition woes". The Australian. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024. "We'd have to put a lot of time and effort and resources into campaigns that we would be unlikely to prevail in, and a swing against us would be a massive distraction."
^ "LA - Check Count Final Results - First Preference Votes - Pittwater". NSW State Election Results 2024. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
^ "LA Check Count Final Results - Distribution of Preferences - Pittwater". NSW State Election Results 2024. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2024.

[NSWEC-1] "2024 Pittwater State by-election". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.

[2] McSweeney, Jessica; Smith, Alexandra; Gorrey, Megan; Sibthorpe, Clare (30 August 2024). "NSW MP charged with child sex offences, quits parliament". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 2 September 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.

[3] Lewis, Alexander (30 August 2024). "Liberal MP for Pittwater Rory Amon charged with child sex offences". ABC News. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024. The ABC understands Mr Amon has quit parliament and the Liberal Party following the charges.

[4] LA First Preference: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

[5] LA Two Candidate Preferred: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.

[6] Two Candidate Preferred (TCP) Analytical Tool: Pittwater, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 27 April 2023.

[Antony-7] Green, Antony. "Pittwater By-election - NSW Election 2024". ABC News. Archived from the original on 5 October 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.

[8] Gorrey, Megan (5 September 2024). "'I'm still an underdog': The teal candidate taking on the Liberals in Pittwater". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024. Teal candidate Jacqui Scruby hopes widespread frustration at the NSW Liberals' turmoil might propel her into state parliament when she takes her second tilt at the seat of Pittwater, setting up a rematch between the party and independents in the knife-edge northern beaches electorate.

[9] Dole, Nick; Al–Khouri, Chantelle (12 September 2024). "NSW Liberals select Georgia Ryburn to run in Pittwater seat for upcoming state by-election". ABC News. Sydney. Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.

[10] "Libs off Council for four years". Northern Beaches Advocate. 15 August 2024. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.

[11] Dowling, James (26 September 2024). "NSW Labor will not contest blue ribbon by-elections despite opposition woes". The Australian. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024. "We'd have to put a lot of time and effort and resources into campaigns that we would be unlikely to prevail in, and a swing against us would be a massive distraction."

[12] "LA - Check Count Final Results - First Preference Votes - Pittwater". NSW State Election Results 2024. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2024.

[13] "LA Check Count Final Results - Distribution of Preferences - Pittwater". NSW State Election Results 2024. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 November 2024.

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